David--

I had the same problem with the Small Sebenza I carried in the '90's. I found it would not stay sharp with minimal usage, so sent it back to be restored to new condition and sold it.

Since then, they have improved steel, and have better edge holding. And if you have a problem with one they will stand behind it--I just did not think the problem I had with the one I sold was typical of their knives.

Heck, the Benchmade I have carried for about 12 years also is not great at holding an edge, even though I sent it back and had a newer blade installed.

Back to the Sebenza--at the time I was buying wholesale from Chris and retailing them at shows. Talking to him one day, I asked if he would put serrations on some blades for me or if that might be offered as an option at some point. Flat out no way, he did not see a reason for serrations. I'm sure that he and others like him have all kinds of things thrown at them, and the process of interrupting normal work flow to accommodate customers' whims is probably too disruptive.

However, now that they offer serrations--I have not bought one of them! The reason: I have not found a way to re-sharpen the serrations well enough on Spyderco knives, so I doubt I could maintain a serrated Sebenza as well as I would like.

Larry

P.S.: I keep telling myself that Spyderco has the sharpest blades out-of-the-box, but I am not assured that I or Spyderco can return their knives to their original level of sharpness when they come out of the factory.